Sun Sentinel Palm Beach Edition
‘We’re not satisfied’
Lightning ready to chase 3rd straight Stanley Cup
It’s going on 40 years since the NHL last celebrated a three-peat Stanley Cup champion as part of the Islanders’ run of four straight titles from 1980-83.
The Lightning have won two straight, and defenseman Victor Hedman doesn’t see why the team can’t make it three despite an offseason of salary cap-forced subtractions.
“We’re not satisfied,” Hedman said. “We don’t want to see anybody else raising that Cup, that’s for sure.”
With several Eastern Conference teams such as the Islanders, Hurricanes and Panthers — all three lost to the Lightning in the playoffs last season — poised to close the gap, the reality is this season’s Cup still runs through “Champa Bay.”
Though the Lightning were forced to unload their entire third line, while plugging holes with modestly priced veterans, captain Steven Stamkos believes the team’s window of opportunity hasn’t shut yet, especially if the salary cap begins nudging upward after staying flat the last two years.
“You just hope that the way things are trending, the salary cap is going creep up,” Stamkos said. “But at this point, right now, we’re not thinking about that. You’re thinking about what do we have to do to win it again.”
FanDuel Sportsbook favors the Lightning to win the East, but the Islanders might top the list of teams wanting to have a word with the oddsmakers after having each of their last two seasons end by losing to the Lightning in the semifinals, including a 1-0 loss in Game 7 in June.
“I think internally we’ve seen a lot of growth and (there are) still spots we think we can be better,” said Islanders captain Anders Lee, who returns after being sidelined most of last season with a knee injury.
The Panthers upgraded their lineup by adding forward Sam Reinhart in a trade with the Sabres, and re-signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Brandon Montour, whom they acquired in an April trade.
Then there’s the Hurricanes, whose Sebastian Aho-led core of young stars remains in place despite the team reshuffling other parts of their roster. If only they can get their goaltending set with the offseason additions of Antti Raanta and Frederik Andersen.
Never count out the Penguins, though Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin will miss the start of the season recovering from injuries. And don’t forget Alex Ovechkin and the Capitals, so long as their aging roster remains healthy after injuries led to their third consecutive first-round exit in May.
“I’m using it as an excuse but I don’t want to use it as an excuse: We need to be healthy going into the playoffs and that’s part of it,” Caps GM Brian MacLellan said. “I think we can compete with all the best teams.”
Behind the benches
Gerard Gallant lands his fourth head-coaching job in taking over the Rangers, and the East will feature three relative first-timers behind the bench.
The Canadiens’ Dominique Ducharme and Sabres’ Don Granato were promoted to full-time jobs after spending last season as their teams’ interim coaches. Brad Larsen takes over the Blue Jackets after spending the last seven seasons as an assistant.
Can do Canadiens
The Canadiens had a tumultuous offseason after their surprise Cup run ended in five games to the Lightning. Captain Shea Weber’s career is uncertain because of injuries. The Canadiens lost top defensive forward Phillip Danault and Corey Perry in free agency, and had the Hurricanes poach forward Jesperi Kotkaniemi by signing him to an offer sheet.
Then there’s the uncertain status of goalie Carey Price, who had offseason knee surgery.
The Canadiens added center Christian Dvorak in a trade and signed free agent defenseman David Savard.
Toront-oh, not again
Auston Matthews and the Maple Leafs won’t have the pandemic-created North Division to pad their regular-season record as happened last year. Not that it helped in the playoffs, when the Leafs squandered a 3-1 firstround series lead to the Canadiens.
The Leafs haven’t won a playoff round since 2004.
“I think it’s funny when it’s like a now or never,” said Matthews of management and fans losing patience in the Leafs’ core. “But yeah, we’d obviously like to take some steps forward and get over that hump.”